Sydney  - An Australian Army bomb-detection dog given up for dead 14 months ago after going missing during a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan has been found alive and well, news reports said Thursday.

Sabi was about to complete a second tour of duty with the elite SAS regiment in restive Uruzgan province when she was reported missing in action during an ambush in which nine soldiers were shot and one SAS officer, Mark Donaldson, won a Victoria Cross for saving the life of an Afghan interpreter.

The 4-year-old black Labrador, who was a stray before being enlisted into the army, was found by a US soldier and flown to an emotional reunion with her handlers at the Tarin Kowt military base last week.

"I nudged a tennis ball to her with my foot, and she took it straight away," a handler was quoted as saying in a Defence Force press release. "It's a game we used to play over and over during her training. It's amazing, just incredible, to have her back."

Donaldson, speaking from Windsor Castle in London after receiving his Victoria Cross from Queen Elizabeth, said Sabi's return closed a chapter.

"She's the last piece of the puzzle," he said. "Having Sabi back gives some closure for the handler and the rest of us that served with her in 2008."

Donaldson, Australia's first Victoria Cross recipient in 40 years, ran nearly 100 metres under machine-gun fire to drag the stricken interpreter to safety.

Sabi, who has now served longer in Afghanistan than most Australian troops, was expected to be flown home. (dpa)